The Nokia N900 is a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

made by

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

Maemo Maemo is a software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and SDK. Maemo played a key role in Nokia's strategy to c ...

5, is a

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...

-based OS originally developed for the

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York City on 25 May 2005. It is designed for wireless Internet browsing and email functions and includes software ...

. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas Instruments OMAP3

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...

with the

ARM Cortex-A8 The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture. Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar design, achieving roughly twice the instructions per cycle. The Cortex ...

core. Unlike the three Nokia Internet tablets preceding it, the Nokia N900 is the first Maemo device to include phone functionality (

quad-band In telecommunications, a multi-band device (including (2) dual-band, (3) tri-band, (4) quad-band and (5) penta-band devices) is a communication device (especially a mobile phone) that supports multiple radio frequency bands. All devices which ha ...

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

and 3G

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...

HSDPA High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...

). The N900 functions as a

mobile Internet device A mobile Internet device (MID) is a multimedia capable mobile device providing wireless Internet access. They are designed to provide entertainment, information and location-based services for personal or business use. They allow 2-way communica ...

, and includes

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

, web browsing and access to online services, a 5-

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...

digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...

for still or video photography, a

portable media player A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored o ...

for music and video,

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

games console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...

and

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current ...

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

, as well as

mobile telephony Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Telephony is supposed to specifically point to a voice-only service or connection, though sometimes the l ...

using either a mobile network or

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...

via Internet (mobile or

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

).Response from Nokia support to customer enquiry
/ref> Maemo provides an X-terminal interface for interacting with the core operating system. It was launched at Nokia World on 2 September 2009 and was released in November 2009 in the United States and 9 European countries. The N900 was launched alongside Maemo 5, giving the device an overall more touch-friendly interface than its predecessors and a customizable home screen which mixes application icons with shortcuts and widgets. Maemo 5 supports

Adobe Flash Player Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video content created on ...

9.4, and includes many applications designed specifically for the mobile platform such as a new touch-friendly media player.

History and availability

The Nokia N900 was announced on 17 September 2008 during a keynote presentation by Dr. Ari Jaaksi of Nokia. New supported features were announced for Maemo 5 such as cellular connectivity over 3G/

HSPA HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment The High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA, pronounced "hess-pah" (/ˈhɛspə/) ...

, TI

OMAP3 The OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) family, developed by Texas Instruments, was a series of image/video processors. They are proprietary system on chips (SoCs) for portable and mobile multimedia applications. OMAP devices generally i ...

processor and high definition camera support. No news on backward compatibility for older Internet Tablets and no time frame was established. The release of the pre-alpha Maemo 5

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

, in December 2008 targeted exclusively the OMAP3 architecture, revamped the

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

, included support for hardware graphics acceleration and other functionalities not found in Internet Tablets at the time such as cellular data connectivity and high definition camera support. The first photo and specifications of the N900, codenamed Rover while being developed, came out in May 2009. The release of FCC approval documents in August 2009 confirmed the device and provided the second codename RX-51. The Nokia N900 was officially announced on 2 September 2009 at Nokia World 2009 in Germany. Nokia says it is step 4 of 5 in the line of Maemo devices which started in 2005 with the Nokia 770. The device was initially available in selected markets starting November 2009 (4 December in the UK) with a retail price of €599 in Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, €649 in France, 2499 zł in Poland, 5995 kr in Sweden and £499 in the United Kingdom, all prices including VAT but excluding subsidies. The retail price at launch was US$649 in the United States excluding sales taxes and subsidies. It will be available in Canada through independent retailers for around C$800. As of March 2010 the Nokia site in Australia lists the N900 on the homepage, hinting at launch some time in the near future. Black was the only color available at launch. Initially, availability was extremely limited, leading to further delays. The statement from Nokia was that there was higher pre-order demand than expected. The Nokia N900 launched in Hong Kong on 29 May 2010, with added features to facilitate character handwriting input. Price at launch was 4998 HKD. It has already been released to Australia via Optus.

Hardware

Processors

The Nokia N900 is powered by OMAP 3430 ARM Cortex-A8, which is a

system-on-a-chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

made by

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

based on a 65 nanometer CMOS process. The OMAP 3430 is composed of three microprocessors; the Cortex A8 running at 600 MHz (up to 1.15 GHz with correct overclocking) used to run the OS and applications, the

PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accel ...

SGX530 GPU made by

Imagination Technologies Imagination Technologies Limited is a British semiconductor and software design company owned by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a private equity fund based in Beijing that is ultimately owned by the Chinese government. With its global headquar ...

which supports

OpenGL ES OpenGL for Embedded Systems (OpenGL ES or GLES) is a subset of the OpenGL computer graphics rendering application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D computer graphics such as those used by video games, typically hardware-accele ...

2.0 and is capable of up to 14 MPolys/s and a TMS320C64x, the

digital signal processors A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor chip, with its architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing. DSPs are fabricated on MOS integrated circuit chips. They are widely used in audio si ...

, running at 430 MHz used to run the image processing (camera), audio processing (telephony) and data transmission. The TMS320 C64x main purpose is to offload the Cortex A8 from having to process audio and video signal. Moreover, the OMAP 3430 on some N900 devices has been successfully over-clocked up to 1150 MHz by using a modified kernel and editing the kernel power configuration file. The system has 256 MB of dedicated high performance RAM (

Mobile DDR Low-Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR), also known as LPDDR SDRAM, is a type of synchronous dynamic random-access memory that consumes less power and is targeted for mobile computers and devices such as mobile phones. Older variants are also known a ...

) paired with access to 768 MB swap space managed by the OS. This provides a total of 1 GB of

virtual memory In computing, virtual memory, or virtual storage is a memory management technique that provides an "idealized abstraction of the storage resources that are actually available on a given machine" which "creates the illusion to users of a very ...

Screen and input

The Nokia N900 has a

resistive touchscreen In electrical engineering, a resistive touchscreen is a touch-sensitive computer display composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by an air gap or microdots. Description and operation There are two diffe ...

with a resolution of 800 × 480 pixels ( WVGA, 267 ppi). According to both Nokia and the Xorg.log, it is capable of displaying up to 65k colours (565 RGB). Nokia N900 camera capability is 2592x1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Dual LED flash, video light, geo-tagging The LCD is

transflective A transflective liquid-crystal display is a liquid-crystal display (LCD) with an optical layer that reflects and transmits light (''transflective'' is a portmanteau of ''transmissive'' and ''reflective''). Under bright illumination (e.g. when expos ...

to permit usability over a wide range of luminosity (from daylight to dark). Haptic feedback is provided to touchscreen input by applying a small vibration or a sound; the user can choose whether to have this feature enabled. A stylus is provided to allow more precise touch input and access to smaller user interface elements. A 3-axis

accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is acce ...

allows the orientation of the screen to change between portrait and landscape mode in certain applications, or it can be used as user input in games and applications. While the dashboard or desktop is active, rotating the device from landscape to portrait mode activates the phone application (a feature that can also be disabled at user discretion). With update PR1.2, It became possible to view web pages in portrait mode. Developers may add support for portrait mode in their applications if desired. There is a proximity sensor which deactivates the display and touchscreen when the device is brought near the face during a call. The slide-out 4-row keyboard and

D-pad A D-pad (short for directional pad or digital pad; officially referred to by Nintendo as a +Control Pad) is a flat, usually thumb-operated, often digital, four-way directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern vid ...

of the Nokia N810 have been replaced on the Nokia N900 with a slide-out 3-row backlit keyboard with arrow keys (as with previous Internet Tablets, an on-screen keyboard is also available). In addition to the English QWERTY layout, the slide out keyboard will be available in variants for Italian, French, German, Russian, Czech, Nordic (Finnish, Swedish), and Spanish. The Nokia N900 has an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness and activates the backlit keyboard. The OS comes with a word prediction software that can be configured to the user preferences (auto capitalization, word completion, auto spacing between words). The device has an autonomous GPS with optional

A-GPS Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) is a GNSS augmentation system that often significantly improves the startup performance—i.e., time-to-first-fix (TTFF)—of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). A-GNSS works by providing the necessary data to th ...

functionality and comes pre-loaded with the

Ovi Maps Here Technologies (stylised and trading as HERE and here) is an American-Dutch multinational group dealing with mapping, location data and related automotive services to individuals and companies. It is majority-owned by a consortium (an as ...

application. Ovi Maps provides typical mapping features such as alternate views (3D landmarks, satellite, and hybrid maps), address/places of interest searching, and route planning, although it does not have

turn-by-turn navigation Turn-by-turn Navigation is a feature of some satellite navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best ...

yet.

The 5-megapixel back camera has an

autofocus An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system ...

feature, dual LED flash, 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio options, and 3×

digital zoom Digital zoom is a method of decreasing the precise angle of view of a digital photograph or video image. It is accomplished by cropping an image down to an area with the same aspect ratio as the original, and scaling the image up to the dimen ...

. The

focal length The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foc ...

of this camera is 5.2 mm, the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

is f/2.8, and the focus range is 10 cm to infinity. It is capable of video recording at up to 848 × 480 pixels at 25 fps. The lens, while not in use, is protected by a sliding hatch. Opening the hatch launches the camera application. Although the 0.3-megapixel front camera is capable of video recording at up to 640 × 480 pixels and pre-production units could be used for video calls over IP using Google Talk, the retail version was delivered without any software enabling video calling or video chatting. In update PR1.2

OTA OTA or ota may stand for: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Off the Air'', an Adult Swim television series * Otakon, an annual anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland Electronics, science, and technology * Ochratoxin A (also termed OTA), a mycoto ...

(over-the-air)

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debi ...

video calling was added, enabling the fascia camera.Nokia N900 software update release 1.2
retrieved 28 May 2010 With some software updates the phone becomes capable of play/record/stream 720p video.

Buttons

When holding the device facing the screen; on the top, from left to right, rocking buttons (which function as volume up/down or zoom in/out depending on the context), power on/off and camera button. Pressing the power button brings up a menu to change the profile, activate offline mode (a.k.a. "Airplane or Flight mode", which turns off all emitted signals), Lock Device (either "Secure" with key code, or simple lock), and an option to end the current task. As the Nokia N900 has fewer hardware buttons, it makes use of the touchscreen to display on-screen buttons, for example, to accept, reject and end a call.

Audio and output

The N900 has a microphone and stereo speakers located on each side of the device. There is a 3.5 mm four-contact

TRRS connector A phone connector, also known as phone jack, audio jack, headphone jack or jack plug, is a family of electrical connectors typically used for analog audio signals. A plug, the male connector, is inserted into the jack, the female connecto ...

which simultaneously provides stereo audio output and either microphone input or video output.

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

and

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

TV out is possible using a Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (included upon purchase) or a standard TRRS -> 3x

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

cable. There is a High-Speed USB 2.0 USB Micro-B connector provided for data synchronization, mass storage mode (client) and battery charging. This micro-USB connector was prone to failure. The Nokia N900, unlike previous versions of Nokia's Internet Tablet, hasn't enabled support for

USB On-The-Go USB On-The-Go (USB OTG or just OTG) is a specification first used in late 2001 that allows USB devices, such as tablets or smartphones, to act as a host, allowing other USB devices, such as USB flash drives, digital cameras, mouse or keyboa ...

(the ability to act as a USB host) by default, this in order to meet the deadlines for production and USB certification. There is an ongoing community effort to add this support subsequently, currently the software is in

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

stage. Requiring a non-standard USB cable or USB A-A adapter and software from the development repository. The built-in Bluetooth v2.1 supports wireless earpieces and headphones through the HSP profile. The Nokia N900 supports hardware capable of stereo audio output with the

A2DP In order to use Bluetooth, a device must be compatible with the subset of Bluetooth ''profiles'' (often called services or functions) necessary to use the desired services. A Bluetooth profile is a specification regarding an aspect of Bluetooth-b ...

profile. Built-in car hands-free kits are also supported with the HFP profile. File transfer is supported ( FTP) along with the OPP profile for sending/receiving objects. It is possible to remote control the device with the

AVRCP In order to use Bluetooth, a device must be compatible with the subset of Bluetooth ''profiles'' (often called services or functions) necessary to use the desired services. A Bluetooth profile is a specification regarding an aspect of Bluetooth-b ...

profile. The DUN profile which permits access to the Internet from a laptop by dialing up on a mobile phone wirelessly (tethering), the HID profile which provides support for devices such as Bluetooth keyboards and PAN profile for networking using Bluetooth are unsupported but can be enabled. The Bluetooth set also functions as an FM Receiver, allowing one to listen to the FM radio. The N900 also has an 88.1–107.9 MHz FM transmitter which can, for example, play music through a separate radio. (Note that the FM transmitter's frequency range can be extended to 76.0–107.9 MHz by community supported modifications to the operating system) Furthermore, the Nokia N900 has

b/ g connectivity with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 ( AES/ TKIP) security protocols. The Nokia N900 can synchronize with

Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...

through

ActiveSync ActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization app developed by Microsoft, originally released in 1996. It synchronizes data with handheld devices and desktop computers. In the Windows Task Manager, the associated process is called wcescomm.exe. O ...

and various other e-mail and calendar clients through

SyncML SyncML (Synchronization Markup Language) is the former name for a platform-independent information synchronization standard. The project is currently referred to as ''Open Mobile Alliance Data Synchronization and Device Management''. The purpose o ...

over bluetooth or the micro-USB. Contact information can also be exchanged via the

vCard vCard, also known as VCF (Virtual Contact File), is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards can be attached to e-mail messages, sent via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), on the World Wide Web, instant messaging, NFC ...

file format which is supported commonly by e-mail programs, including

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and

. The device also features an

infrared port The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is an industry-driven interest group that was founded in 1994 by around 50 companies. IrDA provides specifications for a complete set of protocols for wireless infrared communications, and the name "IrDA" also ...

(not compatible with

IrDA The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is an industry-driven interest group that was founded in 1994 by around 50 companies. IrDA provides specifications for a complete set of protocols for wireless infrared communications, and the name "IrDA" also ...

) that can be used to turn the Nokia N900 into a remote controller using third-party software.

Battery and SIM

The battery life of the shipped BL-5J (1320mAh) battery in N900 seems very deficient and it was not able to make it through a full working day with an internet connection and call usage. In a press release Nokia stated they are aiming at "''one day of full usage''" or "Always online : Up to 2-4 days (TCP/IP connected)" and "Active online usage: Up to 1+ day". Early reports from users range from 12 hours (Wi-Fi on, web browsing, video and some GPS), to about 2 days online but not used continuously. The value appears to be highly dependent on the user's choice of background software, active desktop widgets, IM and email polling, as well as mobile network signal quality (especially 3G) and in some cases, software bugs. Nokia reported talk times are around 9 hours with GSM and 5 hours with 3G. Battery life can be extended significantly by switching off GPS/A-GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth and by replacing 3G by 2G / GPRS. While previous Internet Tablets used larger batteries (1500

mAh ''Mångha'' (') is the Avestan for "Moon, month", equivalent to Persian ''Māh'' (; Old Persian ). It is the name of the lunar deity in Zoroastrianism. The Iranian word is masculine. Although Mah is not a prominent deity in the Avestan scrip ...

compared with the N900's 1320 mAh), they are based on a less efficient microprocessor. Typical battery time for the Nokia N810 is around 7 hours of continuous full usage, display and Wi-Fi on. In principle, on N900 figures are expected to be much higher. Third party extended batteries up to 2400

capacity are available for the N900. Also, there are community supported modifications that can be performed on 3rd party N900 compatible batteries, usually involving putting two of said batteries in parallel, which can increase the effective battery capacity of the Nokia N900 to over 3000 mAh. The

SIM card A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout) A GSM mobile phone file:Simkarte NFC SecureElement.jpg, T-Mobile nano-SIM card with NFC capabilities in the SIM tray of an iPhone 6s file:Tf sim both sides.png, A TracFone Wireless SIM card ha ...

is located under the battery which can be accessed by removing the back panel of the Nokia N900. The microSD(HC) card socket is also located under the back cover (but not under the battery). No tool is necessary to remove the back panel.

Storage

The Nokia N900 has 32 GB

eMMC The MultiMediaCard, officially abbreviated as MMC, is a memory card standard used for solid-state storage. Unveiled in 1997 by SanDisk and Siemens, MMC is based on a surface-contact low pin-count serial interface using a single memory stack sub ...

and 256 MB NAND non-removable storage. Additional storage is available via a

hot swappable Hot swapping is the replacement or addition of components to a computer system without stopping, shutting down, or rebooting the system; hot plugging describes the addition of components only. Components which have such functionality are said ...

microSDHC Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...

card socket, which is claimed to support up to 16 GB of additional storage. However, the SDHC specification supports cards only up to 32 GB in size, and some difficulty has been reported with the use of 64+ GB SDXC cards. Sandisk claims that SDXC cards are not compatible with the N900. Hot swapping is achieved via a software-supported magnetic sensor which detects removal of the back cover, so the partition residing on a microSDHC card is unmounted when the back cover is removed. The microSDHC card can be formatted with a supported

file system In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one larg ...

such as

ext2 The ext2 or second extended file system is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by French software developer Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system (ext). Having been designed according to the same ...

ext3 ext3, or third extended filesystem, is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It used to be the default file system for many popular Linux distributions. Stephen Tweedie first revealed that he was working on ext ...

, FAT16 and

FAT32 File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system developed for personal computers. Originally developed in 1977 for use on floppy disks, it was adapted for use on hard disks and other devices. It is often supported for compatibility reasons b ...

. The 32 GB eMMC is split into 3 partitions: * 2 GB as

mounted to

/home 

A home directory is a  file system directory on a multi-user operating system containing  files for a given user of the system.  The specifics of the home directory (such as its name and location) are defined by the operating system involved; for  ...

* 768 MB as swap * the remainder as VFAT mounted to /home/user/MyDocs with about 27 GB of free space. The 256 MB NAND is formatted as

UBIFS UBIFS (UBI File System, more fully Unsorted Block Image File System) is a flash file system for unmanaged flash memory devices. UBIFS works on top of an UBI (unsorted block image) layer, which is itself on top of a memory technology device (M ...

and contains the

bootloader A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader or called boot manager and bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer. When a computer is turned off, its softwareincluding operating systems, application code, an ...

kernel image The kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer's operating system and generally has complete control over everything in the system. It is the portion of the operating system code that is always resident in memory and facilitates in ...

and

root directory In a computer file system, and primarily used in the Unix and Unix-like operating systems, the root directory is the first or top-most directory in a hierarchy. It can be likened to the trunk of a tree, as the starting point where all branche ...

"/" with about 100 MB of free space. Programs larger than 500 kB including dependencies should be stored in /opt which is symlinked to /home/opt and therefore located on the 2 GB ext3 partition. The VFAT partition is also available for storage but needs to be used carefully as it is unmounted and exported if a USB cable is connected to the device.

Software

5, also known as Fremantle, is the default operating system on the Nokia N900. Maemo 5 is Nokia's adaptation of the Linux

desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a grap ...

for a pocket-sized device. The UI is fully customizable: the user is able to move widgets around, add/remove widgets, change the background and add shortcuts to applications. The N900 comes preloaded with a variety of applications such as: * ''Web'':

Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, ...

-based

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...

called

MicroB MicroB was a mobile web browser developed by Nokia for use in smartphones and mobile devices that run the Maemo operating system. The browser is Mozilla-based and uses the Gecko layout engine. It is shipped with Nokia's N800, N810 and N900 I ...

, which includes

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Flash ...

9.4 and RSS reader. (Updates to Flash 10.1 are available) * ''Phone application'' * ''

'':

Session Initiation Protocol The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol used for initiating, maintaining, and terminating communication sessions that include voice, video and messaging applications. SIP is used in Internet telephony, in private IP telepho ...

, Skype with video chat, Google Talk with Video * ''Conversations'' ( IM chat and

, MMS (only with the PR1.2 software update)) * ''Media'': Camera, Photos, Media player * ''Productivity'': Email, Calendar,

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

reader, Contacts * ''

'' (Find position on a map using the GPS, Search an address or location, Plan routes) * ''Utilities'': Clock, Notes, Calculator, Sketch, File manager * ''System Tools'': File manager, Application manager for downloads, Widgets * ''Games'': Bounce,

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

Mahjong Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-pla ...

, Blocks (

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appro ...

), Marbles More than 1500 additional applications (an overwhelming majority of them free to download and use) have been created by 3rd party developers. Custom kernels are also available via the App Manager for users who need more out of their devices. Maemo uses upstart to reduce the boot time. An application called "Easy Debian" installs a Debian

LXDE LXDE (abbreviation for Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) is a free desktop environment with comparatively low resource requirements. This makes it especially suitable for use on older or resource-constrained personal computers such as netb ...

image on the internal memory, enabling applications such as IceWeasel (

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...

browser) and all of the

OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org (OOo), commonly known as OpenOffice, is a discontinued open-source office suite. Active successor projects include LibreOffice (the most actively developed), Apache OpenOffice, Collabora Online (enterprise ready LibreOffice) a ...

suite to run within Maemo. Other applications in the Synaptic package manager that are included in the Debian installation, such as

GIMP GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized ...

, can run within the LXDE interface. Software can also be added to Debian using Maemo's

chroot A chroot on Unix and Unix-like operating systems is an operation that changes the apparent root directory for the current running process and its children. A program that is run in such a modified environment cannot name (and therefore normal ...

utility using Synaptic or

apt-get Advanced package tool, or APT, is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian, and Debian-based Linux distributions. APT simplifies the process of managing softwa ...

at the

command line A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

, such as

Stellarium A stellarium is a three-dimensional map of the stars, typically centered on Earth. They are common fixtures at planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entert ...

or the zim

desktop wiki Standard wiki programs, by programming language JavaScript-based * Lively Wiki is based on Lively Kernel and combines features of wikis and development environments. Users can create and edit application behavior and other content. * Tiddl ...

, and this can then be accessed either via the LXDE desktop, by icons in the program manager, or by shortcuts on the desktop.

SIM Application Toolkit

In Nokia N900, there is no

SIM Application Toolkit SIM Application Toolkit (STK) is a standard of the GSM system which enables the subscriber identity module (SIM card) to initiate actions which can be used for various value-added services. Similar standards exist for other network and card system ...

available (also known as "operator menu"), so it is not possible to use any services that require it. As a result, there is no support for a SIM to interact directly with the outside world and initiate commands independently of the handset and the network, making N900 not vulnerable to installation of malicious SIM Java applications via text messages. Issues with various

value-added service A value-added service (VAS) is a popular telecommunications industry{{cite web, url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/11/prweb11284640.htm, title=Global Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) Market: Worldwide Industry Share, Investment Trends, Growth, ...

s resulting from no availability of SIM Application Toolkit include the following: * ''Estonia'' MobileID (mobile National ID) is not working on N900 * ''Germany'' "Lycamobile Services" is not displayed, which can be used to update the SIM card configuration when it cannot connect to network, by switching between automatic and manual mode * ''Kenya'' MPESA & ZAP (mobile money transfer) services are not available on the N900 * ''Norway'' "mobile BankID" is not working (N900 cannot work as mobile banking token). * ''Philippines'' "Smart Menu" is not available on N900 * ''Romania'' DigiMobil Roaming is not working on N900 * ''Romania'' Vodafone Numar Dual (Dual Number) is not working on N900 * ''Sweden'' "Mobil BankID" is not working on N900 * ''Tanzania'' MPESA & ZAP (mobile money transfer) services are not available on N900

Known issues

Nokia often offers new N8 or E7 devices as warranty replacements for N900s. Although warranty terms and consumer rights legislation differ across jurisdictions, users have reported success in refusing those and pressing for an N900 in at least the EU and India as recently as August 2011. Owners who are not confident of getting an N900 as a warranty replacement often attempt to repair their own devices, or sell the Nokia-provided replacement to buy an N900 instead. The N900's proximity sensor, which is designed to lock the touch screen when the phone is against the user's ear to prevent accidental operation, locks the screen unintentionally in bright light (usually outdoors) when a call is placed or received. Nokia has acknowledged that it is a "hardware issue" and cannot be addressed. To unlock the screen in a phone call, a tactile unlock switch in the right side of the device can be used. This however will keep the touch screen active and accidental operation of the phone keys in a call may occur when device is used as a handset. This issue has been blamed on the application of screen protectors, however N900 users without screen protectors are also experiencing the problem. The N900's MicroUSB (charger) port is very fragile; some people have successfully fixed this problem either with epoxy glue, or by resoldering the USB port onto the circuit board. Some of the chips in N900's GSM module might be badly soldered to the circuit board, resulting in multiple N900 devices reported as troubled by the inability for the SIM card to be detected. This issue is fixable by putting something between the GSM-related chips and their shielding, though a proper fix would be

reballing Rework (or re-work) is the term for the refinishing operation or repair of an electronic printed circuit board (PCB) assembly, usually involving desoldering and re-soldering of surface-mounted electronic components (SMD). Mass processing techniq ...

Legacy

It was announced in May 2010 that the Nokia N900 will be the last mobile communication device running the Maemo 5 operating system, which will be replaced by

MeeGo MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin (produced by Intel) and Maemo (produced by Nokia). Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances ...

. Nokia will continue to support the N900 with updates when necessary. While transition to the succeeding

operating system is possible, this is mainly of interest to developers rather than consumers, as it is not officially supported by Nokia. There has been some interest within the user community in working on backporting MeeGo developments to Maemo for the N900, and this places it as being an interesting device for people within the wider

Open Source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...

community more than consumers. A download of the

operating system is available, but not officially supported by

. Nokia used to say that MeeGo was going to succeed Maemo for new devices; however, on 11 February 2011 Nokia announced it will be primarily concentrating on their alliance with Microsoft. MeeGo development will not be stopped and one MeeGo device will become available in 2011. On 3 March 2011, Jukka Eklund, Product Manager, MeeGo OS at Nokia announced in the MeeGo-dev mailing list that there will be a MeeGo 1.2 Developer Edition for N900 developed by a dedicated Nokia team led by Mika Leppinen. The target of this particular edition is to be usable as a primary phone device for a developer/hacker person but not for regular end users. The September 2011 announcement that Intel and the Linux Foundation were abandoning MeeGo in favor of

Tizen Tizen () is a Linux-based mobile operating system backed by the Linux Foundation, mainly developed and used primarily by Samsung Electronics. The project was originally conceived as an HTML5-based platform for mobile devices to succeed MeeGo. ...

prompted the developer community to begin to seriously doubt the future of MeeGo on the N900. Subsequently, developers rapidly left the project, leading to an abrupt halt of discussion on the Meego-dev mailing list. The MeeGo Developer Edition after a rename to MeeGo Community Edition evolved into Nemo, which is based on Mer and is currently (October 2012) actively developed. The Nitdroid project, which ports Android to other devices as an alternate operating system, is also available for the N900. However, little progress has been made on achieving voice calling under Nitdroid N900, and the main developer, who goes by the online handle "e-yes", has moved on to developing for other devices such as the Nokia N9. A community-based project aiming to provide a hardware upgrade for the N900, called Neo900, began in late 2013 as a collaboration between the Openmoko and Maemo communities. As of May 2019, the project was officially announced as dead by the project leads on IRC although th
Neo900 web site
still seems to be operational as of 12 November 2020. The hardware upgrade would have quadrupled the device's RAM, provided a processor nearly twice as fast as the one in original N900, and integrated additional sensors such as a gyroscope and compass. It was likely that a more modern LTE modem would also have been included if the project hadn't been canceled.

Notes

References

External links

Nokia USA N900 product page

Nokia Europe N900 product page

Nokia N900 review – Engadget

"The Digital Camera Revolution"
''Science News'', 28 January 2012; Vol.181 #2 (N900 as the first commercial programmable camera) {{Linux mini computers Mobile Linux Linux-based devices Mobile phones with an integrated hardware keyboard Open-source mobile phones Nokia Nseries Mobile phones with infrared transmitter Mobile phones with user-replaceable battery Slider phones